Bulls vs Wizards preview

BULLS
The Bull (48-34) come into the playoffs as the Eastern conference's 4 seed. Last year they made it to the second round of the playoffs before losing to the Miami Heat. Again they have to deal with Derrick Rose being injured. He is one of the best players in the NBA when healthy but he is almost never healthy. They have a great defense and everyone on their team buys in to playing defense as shown by them being number 1 in the NBA is opponents points per game at 91.8. One the offensive side of the ball they are the worst in the NBA in points per game at 93.7. With Rose being hurt they have to search for offense in other ways and they usually struggle with that. Whether or no they can score enough points to move on will be the main issue for them.

WIZARDS
The Wizards (44-38) come into the playoffs as the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference. The last time the Wizards made it to the playoffs was in 2008 when they lost to the Cavs. The Wizards are led by the up and coming point guard John Wall who is quickly becoming one of the better point guards in the NBA. The offense is average getting just over 100 points per game. They play above average defense at 99.4 points per game. Also they shoot three pointers at a good percentage at 38%. 

PG BULLS KIRK HINRICH WIZARDS JOHN WALL
Hinrich is a good defender with a decent jumper and plays the game well. He is more of a back up guard which we sort of was when Rose was healthy. Wall is an up and coming point guard and has the potential to be one of the better point guards in the NBA. He averaged 19 ppg and 8.8 apg.

ADVANTAGE: WIZARDS

SG BULLS JIMMY BUTLER WIZARDS BRADLEY BEAL
Butler is improving and getting better every season. He was a good jump shot and hustles to everything. Also he is a good rebounder and is a good defender. Bradley Beal is becoming one of the better 2 guards in the Eastern Conference. He can shoot the ball extremely well as well as get to the rim. 

ADVANTAGE: WIZARDS

SF BULLS  MIKE DUNLEAVEY WIZARDS TREVER ARIZA
This matchup is two veterans that both shoot threes. Dunleavey like to come off of screen and get a shot up. Ariza isn't as good at spot up shooting but if he has room he can score. 

ADVANTAGE: EVEN

PW BULLS CARLOS BOOZER WIZARDS TREVER BOOKER
Boozer is an all-star caliber player with an good medium range jumper and a good post game and good rebounding. He should be able to do what he wants with Booker. He doesn't average that much of anything but is a bigger body. He should not cause many problems for Boozer though.

ADVANTAGE: BULLS

C BULLS JOAKIM NOAH WIZARDS MARCIN GORTAT
This is a matchup between possibly the defensive player of the year verses a long time veteran in the league. Noah is brings a ton of energy to the game as well as rebounding and defense. Gortat is decent near the basket and has a good medium range jumper.

ADVANTAGE: BULLS

PREDICTION: This will be a tight contested series that will probably go six or seven games. The Wizards have an lot better offense than the Bulls so it will be interesting to see if the Bulls defense can prevail or not. Wizards in 7.